“Must Louisiana lawyers join bar association? Maybe not, federal court says; 5th Circuit revives argument that mandatory membership violates rights of free speech, association.” John Simerman of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this report.

My earlier coverage of Friday’s Fifth Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“The Supreme Court’s Conservative Supermajority Is Just Beginning To Flex Its Muscles”: Laura Bronner and Elena Mejía have this post at FiveThirtyEight.

“The Supreme Court is uber-conservative. A few recent decisions don’t change that. Over the course of the session that just wrapped up, several lower-profile rulings featured sharply partisan divisions — and are likely to be very consequential.” Law professor Leah Litman has this essay online at NBC News.

“Two Justices Say Supreme Court Should Reconsider Landmark Libel Decision; Justice Neil M. Gorsuch added his voice to that of Justice Clarence Thomas in questioning the longstanding standard for public officials set in New York Times v. Sullivan”: Adam Liptak has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

And Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Justices Gorsuch and Thomas call to revisit landmark First Amendment case New York Times v. Sullivan.”

“Supreme Court Term Tilted More to Right but Found Some Consensus; While conservative justices generally prevailed, they were divided over how much and how fast to change interpretations of the law”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

And Jess Bravin and Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal have an article headlined “Justice Barrett Showed Her Conservative Stripes but Defied Expectations; In a first term on the Supreme Court marked by caution, she often favored incremental interpretations of the law.”

“A Wrap Up Of The Supreme Court’s Most Recent Term”: This audio segment featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Supreme Court to Consider New Case on Tuition Aid for Religious Schools; Justices add 10 cases to docket for next term, turn away florist’s appeal challenging service to same-sex couples”: Brent Kendall has this article in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Fifth Circuit: Texas Lawyers Don’t Have to Join State Bar and Pay Dues; The State Bar of Texas engages in political activities that fall outside the scope of its interests so it cannot force attorneys to join it and pay mandatory dues, the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday.” Cameron Langford of Courthouse News Service has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday.

And in a separate decision also issued yesterday, the Fifth Circuit reinstated a similar lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s state bar association membership requirement.

“Breyer Hires Four New Clerks in Hint He’s Staying on Court”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

And at the “Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine, Ed Kilgore has a post titled “Stephen Breyer Just Answered Calls for Him to Quit.”

“John Roberts takes aim at the Voting Rights Act and political money disclosures, again”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“Justices found common ground in controversial cases, largely side-stepping ideological splits”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

“Supreme Court Term Paints Mixed Picture for Business; Court struck blows against union access and certain consumer class-actions, but rejected business positions in product-liability and antitrust cases”: Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Supreme Court under Roberts moves right this year on religion and voting”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“Barrett moves Supreme Court to the right, but cautiously”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“A Supreme Court Term Marked by a Conservative Majority in Flux; The chief justice’s power waned, and the three Trump justices grew more influential; The term ended with an exclamation point, with the court imposing new limits on the Voting Rights Act”: Adam Liptak will have this article in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Court Strikes Down Attempt to Expand Summer Ethanol Sales; The decision invalidates a Trump administration plan intended to be a big compromise between farmers and refiners”: Timothy Puko of The Wall Street Journal has this report on a ruling that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“After Seven Years of Litigation, Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett Let Arlene’s Flowers Wilt; Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch put public pressure on Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Patricia McCabe named Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court of the U.S.” The U.S. Supreme Court‘s Public Information Office issued this news release today.

“Democrats renew court packing calls, blast the Supreme Court’s final two decisions of term; President Biden accused Supreme Court of doing ‘severe damage’ to voting rights”: Tyler Olson of Fox News has this report.

And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Liberals call for federal election laws, packing the Supreme Court after voting rights loss.”

“Unusually agreeable justices end term with conservative wins”: Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko of The New York Times have this report.

Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung of Reuters report that “Barrett finds own voice at center of conservative U.S. Supreme Court.”

And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Barrett’s First High Court Term Gives Taste of Turn to Right.”

Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court granted review in nine new cases and also will be hearing oral argument in an original jurisdiction case.

In Dunn v. Reeves, No. 20–1084, the Court issued a per curiam opinion. Justice Stephen G. Breyer noted his dissent without opinion. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Elena Kagan joined.

In Hoggard v. Rhodes, No. 20–1066, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a statement respecting the denial of certiorari.

In Mast v. Fillmore County, Minn., No. 20–7028, the Court issued a GVR order. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. concurred in the judgment. And Justice Neil M. Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion.

In Berisha v. Lawson, No. 20–1063, Justices Thomas and Gorsuch each issued a dissent from the denial of certiorari.

And in Eychaner v. City of Chicago, No. 20–1214, Justice Thomas issued a dissent from the denial of certiorari, in which Justice Gorsuch joined. And Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh also noted that he would have granted review.

“The Supreme Court tried (sometimes) to not seem like politicians”: The Los Angeles Times has published this editorial.

“Don’t be fooled: This is not a moderate Supreme Court.” Law professors Leah Litman and Melissa Murray have this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The Supreme Court Is Putting Democracy at Risk”: Law professor Richard L. Hasen, founder of the “Election Law blog,” has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Attorney General Merrick Garland orders pause of federal executions; Thirteen people on federal death row were executed between July 2020 and January 2021 after then-Attorney General William Barr federal prison officials to carry them out”: Pete Williams of NBC News has this report.

“Major 6-3 rulings foreshadow a sharper Supreme Court right turn”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

“Supreme Court expansion push starts to fizzle”: Alexander Bolton of The Hill has this report.

“What the Supreme Court Did for Religion”: Columnist Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.

Access today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court today issued rulings in the remaining two argued cases from this Term.

1. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, No. 19-1257. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Clarence Thomas joined. And Justice Elena Kagan issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. And Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court in large measure in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, No. 19-251. Justice Thomas issued an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. Justice Alito issued an opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. And Justice Sotomayor issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Breyer and Kagan joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

“Dissents from the bench: A Supreme Court tradition missing during Covid.” Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.